RIVER RESCUE
The Marine Rescue Unit has been involved in a number of rescues in recent months.
A member of the Marine Rescue Unit in a dry suit used an inflatable sled and paddled to a man in the River Mersey near to the Pump House Public House, Hartley Quay, and brought him to safety on September 21.
Four men who had been kayaking on the River Mersey were also rescued and brought to safety by our Marine Rescue Unit.
Our Service was called on a Saturday lunchtime to the River Mersey and sent the Service’s Marine Rescue Unit’s boat, Marine Fire One to the scene.
Two of the four kayaks had got into difficulty near Seacombe, around mid-river on the River Mersey, leaving the occupants in distress and requiring immediate assistance. The four people were thought to have been on a charity kayak expedition.
Two kayaks had sunk and the occupants had to be rescued onto a jet ski from Wirral Beach Lifeguards. The Lifeguard’s jet ski had made contact with these two kayakers whilst securing together the remaining expedition members who were being swept along with the tide. The four men were brought onboard the Marine Fire One boat.
Marine Rescue Unit Team Leader Ian Kay said: “Wirral Beach Patrol Lifeguards had been monitoring this group of kayakers. They saw them getting into difficulty and sent their jet ski out and informed the Coastguard who then contacted us.
“There were two people in the water clinging to the jet ski when we arrived. We recovered the two people from the water
and two others from the kayaks and brought them to the safety of the Pier Head.
“The River Mersey is very busy during high tide with commercial shipping creating waves which can put people in danger.”
All kayakers and kayaks were recovered to Marine Fire One and returned to the safety of the River Mersey Community Fire and Rescue Station for checks. Safety advice from a HM Coastguard shore team was also offered to the expedition members.
There were no reports of any injuries. The call-out was on August 30.
The kayaks that were involved in the incident. Photo supplied by Marine Rescue Unit Team Leader Ian Kay.
The Marine Rescue Unit ensured the safety of a canoeist who had launched from Eastham Ferry.
Team Leader Steve Barrowman said: “As well as guiding him and ensuring his safety, we also communicated his position at selected points to Mersey VTS (Vessel Traffic Service), in order to ensure he didn’t hinder, or wasn’t hindered by commercial shipping, as well as reporting his status to Liverpool Coastguard, who were also monitoring his progress.
“The craft used was a Canadian canoe, which is an open canoe. The paddler launched at Eastham Ferry as we were notified, and his plan was to paddle ‘Indian Style’, which means with a single bladed paddle, out of the Eastham Channel, and cross ‘Middle Deep’ at the buoy named E3, and into the Garston Channel, which runs alongside Otterspool Promenade.
“With the breeze being from the North West (New Brighton to Garston) being against him, and increasing slightly in strength, he was unable to continue beyond the Old Ferry Landing Stage near Jericho Lane, which was 80 - 90% of the intended passage distance. In order to allow him to paddle into the ‘Cockle Hole’ and the slipway there as planned, we gave him a bit of a lift for the last mile or so and returned him to the water, with the Cockle Hole abeam, so he could at least paddle in under his own steam, and recover his boat from the water on the slipway.”
Reassuring Reaction
A reassurance campaign highlighting fire safety in the home was carried out after smoke alarms alerted people to a severe fire.
Our Service was called on a Sunday afternoon to Elizabeth Road, Haydock. Two fire appliances attended the call-out from Newton-Le-Willows and St Helens community fire stations.
There was severe fire damage to three bedrooms. The fire was a suspected deliberate ignition.
The reassurance campaign targeted the whole of Elizabeth Road on September 15 after the call-out on September 14.
Watch Manager George Jennings, from Newton-le-Willows Community Fire Station, said: “Firefighters worked well to contain this severe fire and stop it spreading any further. Part of the roof and three bedrooms were well alight when crews arrived at the scene. Flames were coming out of three windows when we arrived at the house.
“Smoke alarms alerted people to the fire allowing time for people to evacuate. We urge people to have working smoke alarms on each level of their home.”
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were rapidly deployed into the property and used two hose jets to tackle the flames and stop the fire spreading.
The occupiers were out of the property when the firefighters arrived. The occupiers of two further adjoining properties were also evacuated by the fire crews as a precaution.
Before the fire crews left the incident, a request was made for the assistance of the Fire and Emergency Support Service (FESS), which is provided by the Merseyside branch of the British Red Cross, to attend to offer support to the residents of the affected properties. Volunteers with the FESS supported a number of people who had evacuated their properties.
PAGE 2 HOTNEWS